Clifton Reginald Wharton, Sr.

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Clifton Reginald Wharton, Sr. (May 11, 1899 – April 25, 1990) was an American diplomat, and the first African American in the Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. Department of State.[1] He also became the first black Foreign Service Officer to become chief of a diplomatic mission, and simultaneously the first black chief of a diplomatic mission to a European nation.[2]

Born in Baltimore, Wharton received his law degree in 1920 and an advanced law degree in 1923 from Boston University School of Law. He practiced in Boston before joining the United States State Department as a law clerk in the Career United States Foreign Service. Wharton went on to be Vice Consul in Monrovia (1927-1929), Consul in Las Palmas (1932-1938), Minister to Romania (1958-1961) and Ambassador to Norway (1961-1964). [3]

Wharton died in Phoenix, Arizona.

Wharton was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter organization established for African Americans.

On May 30, 2006, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp depicting Wharton in its Distinguished American Diplomats commemorative series. [4]

His son Clifton Reginald Wharton, Jr. is a noted economist and executive.

[edit] References

  1. ^ U.S. Deptartment of State: "Clifton R. Wharton: U.S. Postage Stamps Commemorate Distinguished American Diplomats"
  2. ^ State Department web site
  3. ^ Navraez, Alfonso A. (April 25, 1990). Clifton R. Wharton, 90, Is Dead; Pioneering Black U.S. Diplomat. New York Times
  4. ^ Stump, Brice (July 5, 2006). Wharton family is honored by stamp issuance.

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

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